Aviation Week reports that the FAA “has authorized Zipline International to perform beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) flights of its cargo drones.” The company, which “is a Part 135 operator, is now authorized by the regulator to deliver commercial packages using its UAV and a parachute.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Tag: Cargo
SpaceX Launches Cargo Dragon Ship to ISS
CBS News reports that a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket “boosted a Dragon cargo ship into orbit Tuesday evening, carrying 6,300 pounds of research gear, crew supplies, spare parts and other hardware on a two-day flight to the International Space Station.” The Falcon 9 “roared to life at 8:30 p.m. EDT and raced away from historic pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida atop 1.7 million pounds of thrust, and a torrent of fiery exhaust visible for scores of miles around.” The booster rocket “shot off on a northeasterly trajectory paralleling the East Coast of the United States, dimming to an ember-like speck, as it accelerated away from Florida and out of the lower atmosphere.”
Full Story (CBS News)
Video
CRS-27 Mission
On Tuesday, March 14 at 8:30 p.m. ET, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Dragon’s 27th Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-27) to the ISS from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
(SpaceX; YouTube)
Boeing Expects Demand for Air Cargo to Increase
Reuters reported that The Boeing Company believes air cargo traffic will double over the next two decades with the “world’s freighter fleet expanding by more than 60%.”
Full Story (Reuters)
Amazon Expands its Air Cargo Service in India
CNBC reports Amazon said Monday it is expanding its air cargo unit, Amazon Air, to India. The company “is using two Boeing 737-800 aircraft flown by Quikjet Cargo Airlines to ship packages across Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai.” Amazon Air’s presence in the country “will enable the company to offer faster deliveries to customers in India, said Sarah Rhoads, vice president of Amazon Global Air, in a statement.” At the same time, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy “is undergoing a broad review of the company’s expenses as it stares down a worsening economic outlook and slowing retail sales.” The company began the largest set of layoffs in its history last week, which is expected to result in the elimination of 18,000 jobs.
Full Story (CNBC)
US Air Force Completes Program That Allows it to Transform Cargo Planes into Bombers
The Daily Mail (UK) reports that the US Air Force “has successfully completed an experimental program to rapidly transform cargo planes into bombers, massively enlarging its firepower capabilities should an armed conflict break out.” The program allows the C-17 Globemaster III and the C-130 Hercules to be converted into bombers. After “two years of experiments, the Air Force successfully tested its first parachute-missile launcher from a transport plane above the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico in March.” According to “PopularMechanics.com, the Air Force believes it can fire as many as 32 cruise missiles on one cargo flight.” The “300 C-130 Hercules and more than 222 C-17 Globemasters the Air Force currently operates would dramatically expand its offensive capabilities.”
Full Story (Daily Mail)
L3Harris to Convert Embraer KC-390 Cargo Planes into Aerial Tankers
Defense One reports that, “L3Harris Technologies has entered an agreement with Brazil’s Embraer to convert KC-390 cargo planes into aerial tankers that can refuel U.S. combat planes in flight.” According to L3Harris Chairman and CEO Chris Kubasik, the “goal is to create a tactical tanker that can fly closer to the front lines in a war with a peer competitor and refuel all types of U.S. military planes.”
Full Story (Defense One)
US Air Force Carries Out Dramatic Nighttime Minuteman III Test
Defense News reports, “Air Force Global Strike Command carried out a test of an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile late Tuesday night. The ICBM, which was equipped with multiple targeted reentry vehicles, launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at about 11 p.m. Pacific time. It then flew about 4,200 miles, at roughly 15,000 miles per hour, to a ballistic missile test site in the Marshall Islands’ Kwajalein Atoll.”
Full Story (Defense News)
Video
US Air Force launches unarmed ICBM (Launch at 0:01 mark)
(VideoFromSpace); YouTube)
SpaceX Launches Cargo Dragon Spacecraft on 31st ISS Resupply Mission
Spaceflight Now reports that a SpaceX Cargo Dragon spacecraft launched Monday evening to begin its fifth journey to the International Space Station, carrying with it “more than 6,000 pounds of cargo and science experiments to the orbiting outpost. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) happened at 9:29 p.m. EST “
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Video
SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches Cargo Dragon from Kennedy Space Center (Launch at 1:31:11 mark)
(Spaceflight Now); YouTube)
Airbus to Carry Out First Cargo Flights for Beluga Cargo Jet
Bloomberg reports that Airbus SE looks to run its first cargo flights for an external client with a fleet of Beluga jets built to ferry wings between the planemaker’s European factories before the end of 2022.
Full Story (Bloomberg)
Airbus Introduces Beluga Cargo Fleet
Aviation International News reports that Airbus “is launching its own cargo airline operation to capitalize on rising air freight demand and the ability of its Beluga transporters to carry super-sized loads.” By 2024, “the new Airbus Beluga Transport service will use five of the A300-600-based BelugaST widebodies for ad hoc charters carrying large, heavy items for industries including, aerospace, energy, and maritime, as well as conducting military and humanitarian missions.” Airbus Beluga Transport conducted its first charter flight in December, “flying an unspecified large rotorcraft from Airbus Helicopters’ manufacturing plant at Marignane in the south of France to an undisclosed customer in Kobe, Japan.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
SpaceX Dragon Cargo Ship Lands Off of Florida Coast
SPACE reports that the Dragon CRS-24 “cargo ship splashed down today (Jan. 24) in the Atlantic Ocean at 4:05 p.m. EST (2105 GMT), off the coast of Florida near Panama City.” The SpaceX cargo ship “returned nearly 5,000 pounds (2,267 kilograms) of science to Earth, including a ‘cytoskeleton’ that studies cell signaling in humans, and returning a 12-year-old light imaging microscope being retired after more than a decade of use in orbit.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Russia Launches Cargo Mission to ISS
SPACE reports that Russia launched the Progress 81 freighter “atop a Russian-built Soyuz rocket at 5:32 a.m. EDT (0932 GMT) from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where the local time was 2:32 p.m. in the afternoon.” Progress 81 “is carrying about three tons of food, propellant and equipment up to the International Space Station (ISS)” where it will dock at 9:02 a.m. EDT. NASA spokesperson Sandra Jones said, “It was a perfect launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Video
Progress 81 Cargo Ship Launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome – June 3, 2022 (NASA via YouTube)
Sierra Space, Spirit AeroSystems Partner on Dream Chaser Cargo Modules
Space News reports that Sierra Space announced Tuesday “a strategic partnership with aerospace manufacturer Spirit AeroSystems for production of cargo modules for its Dream Chaser vehicles.” Spirit “will assist in the development and production of Shooting Star, the cargo module attached to the aft end of the Dream Chaser lifting body vehicle.” The Shooting Star module “will support future cargo missions to the International Space Station under Sierra Space’s contract with NASA, and for other applications.”
Full Story (Space News)